The Allahabad High Court has expressed annoyance at the “falling standards” in the Uttar Pradesh police department, particularly among senior officers.
The court made the remark while hearing a petition filed by senior journalist Vineet Narain. He and two others were recently booked for levelling baseless allegations against senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Champat Rai and his brothers of grabbing land from a gaushala in Bijnor.
Mr. Rai is general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, entrusted with the task of building the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
Police had said the three were charged with hurting the sentiments of crores of people of a community, with fake documents, house trespass and forgery.
The court recently granted Mr. Narain protection from police arrest. On July 28, the court directed Superintendent of Police, Bijnor, to file a counter affidavit to disclose whether any offence under the sections mentioned in the FIR was made out or not.
On August 5, the court noted that a notarised affidavit of the SP, alleging it to be a counter affidavit, without disclosing the name of the deponent and without any swearing clause, “in a most careless manner,” was filed.
This “prima facie indicates falling standards in the police department, particularly among its higher officers,” said a Division Bench of Justices Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Piyush Agrawal.
The court said the conduct of SP Dharm Veer Singh was prima facie “condemnable.”
